12-year-old's death called one of worst neglect cases in TN

Feb. 21, 2014

Written by

and Sheila Burke, Associated Press

Father Errol Johnson

Mother Raven Ruth

Health care worker Chasara Jones

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The parents of a disabled girl who died from gangrene and infected bedsores have been charged with first-degree murder, along with a home health aide, in what is being called one of the worst child-neglect cases police have seen in Tennessee.

When 12-year-old Andrea Ruth died, paramedics and police reported that the Millington, Tenn., girl had sores so advanced that the bones in her toes were visible, according to Department of Childrenís Services investigative records.

The prosecutorís office announced this week that a grand jury indicted the girlís father, Errol Johnson, 42, and health care worker Chasara Jones, 41, on a charge of first-degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child neglect.

Authorities would not name a third indicted defendant, but court and jail records show the mother, Raven J. Ruth, 35, was arrested Wednesday in New Orleans and awaits an extradition hearing to be returned to Tennessee on a murder warrant.

The girl died Nov. 24, 2012. An autopsy revealed she died of sepsis from the gangrene, said Vince Higgins, a spokesman for Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich.

The girl suffered from high blood pressure, obesity and asthma, but her medical problems and fragile health were ignored, authorities said. The condition in Andreaís legs had deteriorated so much that she was to have both legs amputated in May 2011 because of gangrene. The family, however, never showed up for the surgery and missed all later medical appointments, according to the prosecutorís office.

Statements conflict

DCS records said that the girl had one foot without any remaining flesh and that maggots were found in her bandages.

ďIt appears that no one has cared for her wounds for a great deal of time,Ē a DCS abuse and neglect investigator wrote after the girlís death.

In an interview with a DCS investigator, the father at one point said the family couldnít get anyone to help. But his statements contrast with those of a neighbor who claims to have seen a nurse visiting often, the motherís statements that a teacher came to the home twice a week and investigative notes showing the family missed seven medical appointments between June 2011 and the girlís death in November 2012.

Child-protection workers received a call after the girl did not show up for her appointments, said Rob Johnson, a DCS spokesman. He said the agency arranged for a home health care worker to be there for the girl and presumed that the health care agency was taking care of her and that no other reports of problems surfaced until she died.

Jones, the home health aide, is said to have told investigators she was aware of the childís condition but didnít notify the health care company she worked for or contact police or child-welfare investigators.

Records show a Chasara Jones of Memphis is still a licensed nursing aide in Tennessee, state Department of Health spokeswoman Shelley Walker said in an email. Walker said the department, as a policy, does not say whether a health care worker is being investigated by the state.

Higgins, the spokesman for the prosecutorís office, said nobody told police the girl might be in trouble.